The Black Panthers and the NRA

The Black Panthers were a radical group who were active in the 1960's. Their reaction to the condition of Blacks in America was to turn to Thomas Jefferson's words in the Declaration of Independence (which they explicitly took to be their founding document): People have inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and "if any government is destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it."

They called for taking up arms and starting a Black Revolution.
They called for establishing a separate Black State.
"Black Power!"
"Death to Whitey!"

In response to this, guess who lobbied for STRICTER gun control laws (such as California's Mulford Act of 1967 and the Federal Gun Control Act of 1968), in order to protect decent law-abiding citizens from anti-government groups? The National Rifle Association. And in the case of the California bill, Governor Ronald Reagan pushed for its passage.

This is the same argument used nowadays, but from the right: if government suppresses the rights of the first amendment, the second amendment guarantees that we can protect ourselves from the government.

Back then, the Black Panthers responded by showing up, armed, at rallies demanding the right to bear arms.

Then:

Now:

Elevatorpitches · F

uhh... I actually am impressed that BLM could also spell out "Black Liberation Movement"

and yes that did exist to some extent in the (what now is) olden days...

Also I was just thinking of this point before I saw this...ie: Democrats were once for slavery, now they oppose any such oppression.

It's ok, confusion or not, the principles remain, without more equality there will be protest with that in mind. Most people get it.

"Neoliberal" is also not about a rebirth of freedom, its the suppression of it. "Liberal" is and was a party of people some of whom loved freedom for all.

Remember what Chomsky and Orwell and so many others taught us..language is a tool of reality and can be used...as we can be.